A conversation with my wife led to a little research. It turns out every time you drink a Mai Tai, you're downing the caloric equivalent of almost two cans of Coke. A Zombie is on the order of 350 calories. For comparison, a Big Mac has 560 calories.

The average 50 year old sedentary male is allowed 2200 calories a day. That is 6 Zombies if you don't squander any of your calories on crap like broccoli or Brussels sprouts.
_________________ATTENTION MEMBERS! After your Friday Night Debauchery, please be sure to skim the hot tub in the Grand Ceremonial Forum of Mystery. Thank you - The Management

On 2014-04-14 20:08, TikiTacky wrote:A conversation with my wife led to a little research. It turns out every time you drink a Mai Tai, you're downing the caloric equivalent of almost two cans of Coke. A Zombie is on the order of 350 calories. For comparison, a Big Mac has 560 calories.

Actually, I watch everything I consume carefully and 2 of the drinks in the DtB arsenal that are the least harmful are the Navy Grog and 151 Swizzle.

Calories are not your problem. All calories are not equal. Think carbs instead and you'll see that the Zombie is fairly low carb. The Navy Grog gets some from the honey, but I have a sugar free honey that works well.

Lime juice is maybe 2.5 carbs per ounce, but most think it is carb neutral due to its nature. I include the lime in the calculations here anyway.

If you're more focused on carbs you may be familiar with Gary Taubes research. He's author of "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and has done some amazing research into the current state of dietary medicine. Other scientists are starting to back up his research (which was primarily based on hundreds of studies that had already been done). Taubes argues that the real culprit in weight gain and related health issues is Insulin response, and that sweeteners—even artificial sweeteners—along with simple carbohydrates cause spikes in Insulin and cause many of the problems we see.
_________________"You can't eat real Polynesian food. It's the most horrible junk I've ever tasted." —Trader Vic Bergeron

I have found that the flavored rums are the most sweet of all. I'm using up some Cruzan Black Cherry rum which was gifted to me, it's very sweet - I've compared it head-to-head against some low-end gold and silver rums in the same test mixes.

I'm not sure it's possible to say this trend is increasing, since we don't know who is now or was previously adding sugar to their rums. Per the TTB's regulations, rum (in the U.S.) can include up to 2.5% by volume sugar or other customary additives (caramel coloring, etc.). It would be nice to see this info disclosed, but it seems unlikely.
_________________David J. Montgomery
Professor Cocktail